After World War II, the United States and Britain declared the Austrians a "liberated" people, but the Russians prolonged the occupation. Finally Austria concluded a state treaty with the USSR and the other occupying powers and regained its independence on May 15, 1955. The second Austrian republic, established Dec. 19, 1945, on the basis of the 1920 constitution (amended in

Prime Minister Andranik Markarian died suddenly in March 2007. He was replaced by Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan. Sarkisyan won almost 53% of the vote and former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan took 21.5% in February 2008 presidential elections. Ter-Petrosyan, who was Armenia's first president after it gained independence in 1991, claimed the vote was rigged. Tens of